Latch for container covers



July 19, 1960 J. E. SMITH 'LATCH FOR CONTAINER COVERS Filed July 15, 1958 1 36 4 3O W's F i g 2.

CAN UNLOCKED INVENTOR JOSEPH E. SMITH Byfamma yfw ATTORNEY United States Pa ent LATCH FOR CONTAINER COVERS Joseph E. Smith, P.(). Box 578, Ridgeland, S.C.

Filed July 15, 1958, Ser. No. 748,704 4 Claims. 01. 292-427 This invention relates to a hold-down latch for container covers.

Large readily accessible containers such as garbage cans, for example, provide a constant source of annoyance in that they are quite often tippedover and the contents spilled or otherwise removed by stray dogs and the like.

Many cover latches have been designed in the past for securing the tops of large containers but these have been either so complex or cumbersome as to be bothersome to use or'else they are not positive locking structures and therefore, do not successfully perform the job for whic they are intended. a

It is, therefore,'an object of this invention to provide a cover latch for containers which is readily operatedto lock on or release a cover member.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cover latch which has a positive and secure locking action.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cover latch which is readily adapted to a container. 7

These and other objects of the invention will become apparentifrom the following specification and drawings.

In the drawings: a

Fig.1 is an obliqucshowing of the cover latch mounted onacontainer; 7,. U .1

Fig. 2 is a front view of the structure of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side cross-section along line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a top cross-section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial section of the structure shown in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is an exploded view of Fig. 1.

Generally, the subject device comprises a swinging spring-biased latch bolt member fastened to a container body by suitable brackets. One of the brackets houses a spring and a pull-rod latching member for holding the swinging latch bolt in either a locked or unlocked position.

Referring in detail to the drawings and more specifically to Fig. 1, a container 10 is generally shown having a body portion 12 and a cover or lid 14. A swinging pivoted latch bolt member 16 having a straight lower shank 18 and a U-shaped upper section 20 with an elongated upper cover engaging arm 22 is pivoted at its lower end to the container body 12.

The pivot connection comprises a U-shaped bracket 24 having a pivot pin and bolt member 26 therethrough which cooperates with a bent flange 28 on the lower tip of the latch bolt 16.

An inverted U-shaped bracket 30 is fixed to the container body 12 and encloses the latch bolt member 16 at a point adjacent the lower end of the U-shaped section 20 to limit the swing of the latch bolt 16 about the pivot pin 26.

Referring to Figs. 2 through 6, inclusive, the upperbracket 30 has a central slot 32 cut out of the outer face thereof through which is inserted a push-pull latch bolt operating member 34. The end portion of the latch bolt operating member 34 external of the upper bracket 30 is split longitudinally through the thin dimension thereof a r 2,945,718 lc Patented'July 19, 1960.

- the ends of the latch bolt operating member 34 and cut out 'of the lower edge thereof, is a locking detent 38 which cooperates with the slot 32 in the upper bracket as shown in Fig. 5. On the end of the latch bolt operating member 34 interior of the upper bracket 30 is a hook member 40 which fits into a locking slot 42 on the lower.

shank 18 of the swinging bolt 16 adjacent the lower side of the U-shaped upper section 20. The latch bolt operat-" ing member 34 is thus secured to the swinging bolt 16.

- Acompression spring 44 is concentrically mounted on the latch bolt operating member 34 between the upper bracket 30 and the lower shank 18 of the swinging bolt 16 to provide the necessary pressure for maintaining the hook member 40 in the locking slot 42. The compression spring 44 also provides locking pressure for the swinging bolt 16 to hold the U-shaped upper section 20 and the elongated upper cover engaging arm thereof, in positive locking contact with the container lid or cover member 14.

The above description refers to a single latch member for securing a container lid or cover. It is to be underplaced about the periphery of a container for this purpose and that two or more of these latch members would provide a stronger and more realistic means of securing acontainerlid.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Referring to Figs. 1 through 5, and assuming the cover member or lid 14 to be on the container 10, the cover latch device is in locked position with the push-pull latch bolt operating member 34 in the Can Locked position shown in Fig. Swith respect to the upper bracket 30 with the locking detent 38 disengaged from the central slot 32' in the upper bracket 30. 1

When it is desired to remove the lid' 14 of the container 10. the finger grips 36 on the push-pull latch' bolt operating member 34 are grasped and the latch bolt 34 is pulled outward through the central slot 32 against the pressure of the spring member 44. As a result of the engagement of the hook member 40 on the latch bolt 34 with the locking slot 42 in the straight lower shank portion 18 of the swinging bolt 16, the outward motion of the latch bolt 34 causes the swinging bolt 16 to pivot outward about the pivot pin 26 in the lower bracket 24.

The outward motion of the latch bolt operating member 34 is continued until the locking detent 38 thereon engages the lower edge of the central slot 32 in the upper bracket 30. At this point, the upper U-shaped section 20 and the elongated cover or lid engaging arm 22 of the swinging bolt 16 have been swung to a position beyond the outer periphery of the container lid 14 so that the lid 14 may be removed from the body 12 of the container 10. The swinging bolt 16 and the push-pull latch bolt operating member 34 are held in the Can Unlocked position illustrated in Fig. 5 by the interengagement of the locking detent 38 on the latch bolt operating member 34 and the central slot 32 on the upper bracket 30.

When the container lid 14 has been replaced, the finger grips 36 on the push-pull latch bolt operating member 34 are utilized to disengage the locking detent 38 from the central slot 32. The spring member 44 thereby expands and forces the swinging bolt 16 back towards the container 10 and brings the U-shaped upper section 20 and elongated lid engaging arm 22 into positive locking contact with the container lid 14 to hold same securely on the container.

By the foregoing description and drawings I have shown my device to be a simple, practical readily operable and adaptable container cover or lid latch. It is to be understood that themodification shown is for the purpose of example only and is not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A latch device for container covers comprising a swinging latch bolt member pivoted at one end to the body of a container, said'swinging bolt member having a straight shank portion adjacent its pivoted end and a U-shaped section at its opposite end for engaging the cover of said container, a locking slot in the straight shank portion of said swinging bolt member adjacent the U-shaped section thereof, a push-pull latch bolt operating means having a hooked end thereon connected to said swinging bolt member by said hooked end and extending through said locking slot, an inverted U-shaped bracket member enclosing said swinging bolt member adjacent said locking slot and secured to said container body, a centrally located slot in the outermost face of said bracket for receiving the opposite end of said push-pull latch bolt operating means, spring means between said swinging bolt member and said bracket for biasing said swinging bolt member towards said container and a locking detent on said push-pull latch bolt operating means adapted to engage said bracket adacent the periphery of said central slot to hold said swinging bolt away from said container against the action of said spring.

2. A latch device for container covers comprising a swinging latch bolt member pivoted at one end to the body of a container, spring biased operating means for said swinging bolt comprising a push-pull latch bolt operating means connected to said swinging bolt member intermediate the ends thereof and a compression spring concentrically mounted with respect to said latch bolt operating means for biasing said swinging bolt into contact with said container, said swinging bolt having a U- sh'aped container cover engaging section at its other end, said U-shaped section having an elongated outer arm extending over the upper surface of said container cover when said swinging bolt member is in juxtaposition with said container.

3. In a latch device for container covers having a swinging latch bolt member pivoted at one end to the body of a container, spring biased actuating means for said swinging bolt member comprising a push-pull latch bolt operating means connected to said swinging bolt member intermediate the ends thereof for moving said swinging bolt member away from said container, a bracket member enclosing said swinging bolt member intermediate the ends thereof and mounted on the body of the container in operative relationship with said pushpull latch bolt operating means for holding said swinging bolt member away from said container, and a compression spring concentrically mounted on said latch bolt operating means intermediate said bracket and said swinging bolt member for forcing said swinging bolt member into contact with said container.

4. In a latch device for container covers having a swinging latch bolt member pivoted at one end to the body of a container, spring biased actuating means for said swinging bolt member comprising a bracket member enclosing said swinging bolt member at a point intermediate the ends'thereof and secured to said container body, a central slot in the outermost face of said bracket, a push-pull latch bolt operating means extending through said slot and connected to said swinging bolt member, a locking detent on said latch bolt operating means intermediate the ends thereof, in operative relationship with said bracket adjacent the periphery of said central slot and compression spring means mounted between said swinging bolt member and said bracket for biasing said swinging bolt member into juxtaposition with said container, said locking detent adapted to be interengaged with said bracket adjacent the periphery of said central slot upon an outward movement of said latch bolt to hold said swinging bolt member away from said container against the action of said spring means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 785,367 Mason Mar. 21, 1905 886,165 Vore Apr. 28, 1908 988,757 Cox et al. Apr. 4, 1911 2,345,432 Schweller Mar. 28, 1944 2,731,287 Haynes Jan. 17, 1956 

